On the Road with the Chocobros
by PalasAthene
Summary: Leona Bellua, tinkerer extraordinaire, is the fourth companion of Prince Noctis on his journey. To Leo, helping her friends is the most important thing in the world. If she can help by throwing a bomb at a monster, or repairing a broken sword, or making someone laugh by face-planting, then she will damn well will. The rising darkness can kiss her ass. (Slow burn Ignis x OC)
1. Chapter 1: Spitfire

Um, I posted this on AO3 as well, so I'll add my notes from there. I figured since I had 15k words of this self-indulgent fic typed out, I'd post it somewhere. I'm aware that OC inserts are self indulgent by their very nature, but I had fun with this, and I hope you will as well. I don't think I'm the worst writer and Leo is a very fun character for me to write as I freak out over writing my thesis. I still haven't beaten the game yet, and have avoided most spoilers so this is coming pretty organically.

So, this first chapter doesn't really have much going for it. It was kind of just a way for me to get an initial sense of Leo's character and how she fits in the group. I initially considered doing x reader fic, but this is way more in my comfort zone. I have the first 10ish chapters written, and I'll release them maybe like once a week.

Enjoy!

Leona threw herself into every battle. With a boost from Gladio's greatsword, she launched herself into the enemy lines with a yell. The first time she suggested it on a hunt, Gladio couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, but swung her forward anyway, watching with muted surprise as it actually worked, and she delivered a fatal punch to the beast. Since then, it became a regular tactic, much to the horror of Ignis's careful planning. After a while, even he stopped scolding them for the unorthodox tactic, as he was forced to admit, that yes, it delivered quite a punch.

She chose to fight with brass knuckles she fashioned herself, enchanted to deliver an elemental punch. As such, whatever they were fighting had a face full of her before being at the receiving end of a fiery punch. Being so close-ranged had its risks, but Leo acted first, and thought later. Besides, someone needed to be more reckless than the prince.

If the tide of battle seemed to be turning, Leo had many tricks up her sleeve. If anyone else seemed in dire straits, she was proficient at drawing attention to herself, impressive considering her tiny form. But fire had the power of drawing any eye. Though she didn't seem like it, Leo was especially vigilant when others were in danger, especially Prompto, who was a killer at range, but significantly weakened if forced to fight up close. Of course they were all there to formally protect Noct, but Prompto needed someone to watch his back too.

And if she herself was cornered, she was ready with the many explosives he carried on her person. As reckless as she was, Leo was a master of her bombs. They never went off without her direct plan as to where they'd fall, unlike Noct's shoddy control of his magic's range. Well, usually. There was an occasional misfire when she tinkered with new things. She saved her explosives as a last resort as they cost gil to craft, and they had too many battles and not enough income. Besides, she'd rather use that gil to sleep in a comfy bed once in a while.

Together, her and Noct came up with the worst ideas, that seemed brilliant at first, but usually failed spectacularly. "Ay, Noct! Why don't we set the field on fire and flush this bitch out?!"

"Wait, that's a terrible—"

"That's a great idea!"

And they executed it without listening to Ignis's yells behind them. Suffice to say, it was best to leave the planning to Ignis as the fire caught on their clothes and the targets fled in the other direction. That one cost them a long lecture for the rest of the car ride back.

Leo was a bit of a wild card to factor into Ignis's plans. But to her credit, she listened to his instructions when things got even a little bit sticky. Leo didn't mind Ignis's plans, as they were usually effective and allowed the team to synergise in interesting ways that she could have never thought of.

At camp, whenever she had a spare moment after trying to help Ignis or Gladio with their setups, Leo was tinkering. Working on the weapons of the boys or trying to devise new explosions. After one mishap at the camp, she decided to go off to a nearby area to work on those from then on. After the first few times, no one commented on it if she came back covered in black power.

As a unit, they all functioned well at the end of the day, despite some bumps, covering for each others' weaknesses and elevating their strengths. And though she'd punch anyone that suggested it, Leo really did love her boys.


	2. Chapter 2: Stubbornness

"Gladio, flank it's right side. Leo, draw its attention up front."

"Got it!"

Leo did as Ignis said, but the combined assault didn't seem to weaken the gargantuan Arbas. Noct and Prompto were occupied by smaller monsters to the side. Suddenly a brilliant flash of inspiration hit her. "I got this!" she announced to Ignis and Gladio before vaulting a few feet away. "Hey jackass! Over here!"

The beast was intelligent enough to take her bait, and she grinned fiendishly. She pulled out her latest prototype and kissed it for luck. She threw it down just as it charged her and was pushed back by the force of the blast, landing on her butt with a groan. When the dust cleared, she whooped to see the beast dead on the ground, full of shards of metal. "Nice!" Gladio said, offering her an arm to pull her up.

Even Ignis accepted her fist bump. "Quite an unusual concoction." He noted.

"I call it 'Fiery Explosion of Spiky Death'." Ignis winced and Gladio snickered. "Working title then." She was too excited to sulk at their response to her brilliant name. She pulled out her ratty, overfilled notebook and marked down that prototype as a success as well as the radius of the blast. This particular bomb would be easy enough to replicate since it was mostly made of scrap metal.

Noct and Prompto had finished their prey off by that time and came over to see Leo practically bouncing with excitement. She pointed to the dead creature and was about to explain her Fiery Explosion of Spiky Death, when she felt her head hit the ground.

"Aw, you tripped again, Leo?" She faintly heard Prompto's voice. Her own voice was caught in her throat as her effort went into righting herself up, only to plop down again. "Leo?!" this time, Prompto's voice was more urgent.

"Give her here!" a deeper voice ordered. She felt herself being lifted up and supported by someone's arms. She opened her eyes, and everything swam in front of her vision in a blur. All she could make out were various heads of hair, fair and dark. "Noct, bring me the remains of the bomb!"

The bomb? Oh, shit. The perimeter the shrapnel flew at must have been greater than she planned. She touched her stomach and felt stickiness that didn't show in the black of her crownsguard uniform. The last thing she saw before blacking out again were gloved hands beginning to expertly pull out the shards of metal sticking out of her. There was something else. She tried to speak, but it was then she passed out.

Ignis was in full medic mode by then. "Put pressure on the wounds." He ordered Gladiolus once he had carefully removed the tiny bits of shrapnel. He pulled out a potion and released its magical energy. By the time Noctis had hurried back with the charred remains of whatever she'd used, Leona lost consciousness.

"Why didn't the potion work?"

Since Prompto was fully panicking, Ignis couldn't resort to the same. "I don't know." He snapped. "What was in that bloody thing, Leona?" She didn't stir at his question.

"We have to get her to an outpost." Gladiolus said calmly.

"Yeah, I second that." Noctis agreed, his wide eyes the only indication of worry on his stoic face.

With that agreement, they were on their way to the Regalia, Leona on Gladio's back. Ignis couldn't think straight the entire time, mulling over what had happened to have such a devastating effect that a potion couldn't solve.

When they neared the car, a groan came from Gladio's back. "Leo!" Prompto exclaimed, stopping Gladio to touch her shoulder. "You feeling alright?"

"Ugh, 'm feel like shit."

Ignis drew close to her. "Leona, what did you put in that blasted bomb to have such an effect?"

Leo squinted at him. "Ya look funny, Iggy."

"Answer the question."

She was silent for a moment before she let out a weak giggle. "Oops. Shoulda named it Fiery Explosion of _Poisonous_ Spikes."

They all groaned at that while Ignis twitched in anger. Poison? Of course she decided to add poison to her monstrous creation. Noct groaned again, seeming to agree. "Really dude? That's just overkill."

"Shaddup." She snapped, futilely attempting to reach over and flick Noct. "You don't understand my genius." With those words out, her eyes closed again as she collapsed against Gladio.

"Do we have any antidotes?" Ignis asked. Everyone shook their heads, and he felt an incoming migraine. "Why don't we have any?!"

"To be fair, we didn't think we'd need them for this hunt." Noct snapped back. [Insert beast] aren't exactly known for their poison."

"C'mon Iggy, let's just get back to the car." Gladio interjected before Ignis could yell again. He pushed his glasses up and nodded, vowing to give Leona a mouthful when she woke up again.

No one was going to die under his watch.

Leo woke up in a comfy haze. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a bed. It was a pleasant surprise, one that she wasn't going to question as she nuzzled into her pillow. The next time she regained consciousness a few hours later, she felt the sharp pain in her abdomen. "Ugh!" she looked down and pulled up her hoodie to see bandages.

"Hey, you're up!" Prompto was by her side in an instant, sunny smile on his face.

"What happened?"

"You bombed yourself, dumbass." Noct piped in, barely looking up from his phone.

Wow. Her collapse came back to her and she groaned at the failure of her creation. "No one else got hurt, right?" At Prompto's nod, she relaxed. "Well, I'll make sure to workshop that one." She joked. At least by his casual attitude meant that it wasn't serious. And yet, the bandages seemed to suggest otherwise. "How long have I been out? And where are Gladio and Ignis? Oh, and where are we, even? Also—"

"Slow down, dude!"

Prompto and Noct (when he could be bothered) answered her several questions. They were at the nearest gas station they could get to. She'd been out for nearly an entire day. Ignis had patched her up well enough, and once he had access to the antidotes in the car, there had been nothing to worry about. The two oldest members of the group had gone out for supplies and were bound to be back soon.

They were well into a game of cards when Gladio walked through the door with a grocery bag over his shoulder. "You're alive!"

She gave him finger guns at that and waved at Ignis as he entered behind him. "Thanks for patching me up, Ignis."

"You are welcome." The grin fell off of Leo's face as she saw Ignis's unchanged, careful expression. She watched him busy himself at the counter with the stuff they'd just bought, noting how stiff his movements were.

Whatever, maybe he was just in a bad mood or something. She let herself ignore his strange behavior as they resumed their game, with Gladio commenting and peeking at everyone's cards. When Noct was near throwing a hissy fit because of Prompto's winning streak, Ignis presented them with dinner.

The cards were tossed aside. Leo was _starving_. She tore off a bit of the steak and shoved it into her mouth without looking at it. When she tasted what the meat was resting on, she resisted the urge to spit it out. Spinach. He'd rested the meat on spinach of all things. She narrowed her eyes at Ignis, who looked innocent enough. But when he caught her gaze, he lifted a brow. "Is there a problem with the meal?"

Oh, it was definitely on purpose. "Delicious." She lied.

"Good." He smirked. Leo swore revenge as she forced herself to finish the meal. She didn't know what he was playing at, but she didn't complain once. He clearly didn't forget that she hated spinach, so what did she do to piss him off? The others didn't seem to notice the silent battle being waged as they ate and watched T.V, so there'd be no point in calling him out.

They went on like this the next day, when they set out for a campsite near their next target. The car ride itself was quiet, where they occupied themselves with their own devices. It was only when they were setting up camp, and Ignis continued to respond to her questions with mere syllables was when Leo had enough. "All right, what's your problem?"

He had the nerve to look like he didn't know what she was talking about. "I beg your pardon?"

"You've been pissy with me ever since the last hunt." she huffed, cheeks reddening with anger.

"That isn't…" he seemed to reconsider what he was going to say and pushed his glasses up. "You never think about the effects of your actions, do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His eyes flashed, and Leo realised this was him being angry. _Ignis_ was angry. She'd seen him frustrated and in lecturer-mode, but she'd never seen him full on angry. "You threw yourself into battle and ended up causing yourself harm for no reason. It was a foolish move that nearly resulted in your death."

It had been that bad? Still, he had no right to talk to her like she was five. "It was a failed trial." She snapped. "You want me to apologize for being human?"

"There is being human, and then there's adding poison to an untested bomb. What if it had struck all of us?"

Screw him. The poison was a good idea! "I have never hit someone else with my bombs. I'm always too far away for that. You know what?! If it was that inconvenient to patch me up, you shouldn't have bothered!"

With that she stormed off from the camp with her bag of tools and the engine blade she took from a bewildered Noct's hands. She felt her face get somehow redder as she realised the others had witnessed their argument, so she quickened her pace as she left camp. They carried on with their spat for the next few days, Ignis through curtness, and Leo through the silent treatment. She had taken off her own bandages, despite Prompto's suggestion that she should let Ignis look at her wounds. So he could hold something else over her? As if!

Eventually, Gladio seemed to have enough of it, and pulled Leo by the scruff of her hoodie to where Ignis was cooking in camp. "Lemme go, you oaf!"

"Okay." Gladio dropped her, and Ignis turned from his stove to look at the pair curiously. "You two need to work out whatever's you're fighting about. It's getting annoying." With that said, he moved to sit in one of the camp chairs where Noct and Prompto were trying really hard to look as if they weren't watching raptly.

Oh, she'd show him annoying! She moved to flee, but Gladio crossed his arms and gave her a reproachful look from where he sat. If she bolted, he'd chase her down, wouldn't he? Besides, she wouldn't give Ignis the satisfaction of thinking that she was scared of him. So, Leo resorted to glaring at his back while he cooked. Did he even notice that she was there? She didn't want to give in first, no matter what, her pride too important, and her mind too quick to anger. When Ignis looked over at her, he caught her off guard. "You can at least make yourself useful." He motioned to the chopping board.

Fine, that she could do. She moved beside him and began cutting the carrots and turnips for whatever stew he was making. She had to admit that it smelled amazing. She got angrier at the thought of his cooking, remembering the spinach from the day before, taking that anger out with her knife. She thought she was making quick work of the vegetables when Ignis sighed and took the knife from her. "You're supposed to chop them, not saw through them."

"What does it matter as long as they end up cut?"

"Well, for one, you'll lose a finger if you carry on like that."

Leo huffed. "And why would you care? You think I'm a liability anyway!"

Ignis stiffened and she regretted her cold words immediately. "I do not think of you as a liability, Leo. Forgive me, but I had assumed we were friends."

Somehow, the anger in her cooled. "That's what I thought too. Imagine my surprise when you freaked out on me." When he didn't respond, she continued, feeling the need to justify herself. "I would never hurt any of you with my bombs. I know I don't act like it, but I am very careful. I always have a good measure of distance, I swear—"

He stopped her jumble of words with a hand. "I only wish you would extend that caution to yourself. The fact that you see yourself as expendable in battle worries me."

They were both quiet after that admission, and Leona saw that she had been reading the situation entirely wrong. _Oh._ She flushed in embarrassment, her dark cheeks darkening further. She hadn't even considered that that was what he was upset about. "I-uh, I'm sorry for worrying you, then." _And thanks for caring._

He nodded and pushed up his glasses the closest she could imagine him to be bashful. "And I apologize for not being upfront about my concerns. I shouldn't have been so… passive-aggressive."

"Don't forget about the spinach." She added.

"What about the spinach? It is packed with essential vitamins and nutrients that can only benefit you in your recovery."

She snorted. What bullshit. But whatever, it wouldn't do to fight now that they'd just made up. Leo continued to help Ignis with what he was cooking, relieved to see that the atmosphere between them had lost the tension it had gained in the past few days. By the time they had served the stew to the others, it was as if the spat had never happened. Leo stuck her tongue out at a smug Gladio, who looked entirely too pleased that he had been right.

Even though Ignis was a totally different person than her, Leo respected him and cherished his friendship. There was no way she wouldn't continue experimenting and being reckless in battle, but she could try to tone it down just a little, right?

Well, she would try.


	3. Chapter 3: Slumber Party!

It was a relief that Iris was okay. Gladio certainly seemed less tense now that he'd seen his little sister safe and sound. That night, when they stayed at Lestallum for the first time, Iris pulled Leo aside. "Hey. I've got an extra bed in my room. You want to stay? It'll be like a slumber party!"

"Go for it." Gladio encouraged. "Just don't have too many pillow fights."

Iris pouted at him. "We're not 12, Gladdy. C'mon Leo. They're not invited."

Leo waved at them and followed after Iris with her bag slung over her shoulder. She didn't want to offend the younger girl. It was just a different place to sleep. That was Leo thought, Iris had different plans.

The room had two twin beds next to each other. Iris plopped down on her stomach and clutched a pillow to her chest. "Sooo, how are you?"

Leo smiled. "Um, good. It's nice to be in a city for a change."

They talked a bit about Lestallum, where Iris described her experiences. Leo refrained from asking about her escape from Crown City, not wanting to push at a sore spot. After the pleasantries, Iris got to what she really wanted to talk about. "Is Noctis doing okay?"

Leo sighed. "He seems to be managing pretty well, all things considered. Won't talk about it though, so the rest of us leave it alone." Leo didn't want to talk too much about Noct without his knowledge. It felt wrong to talk about it behind his back, even if it was with Iris.

"I see." Iris looked sad at that. "I wish I could help." Leo didn't know what to say to that. Even to her, it was obvious that Iris had a crush on Noct. But Noct was clearly indifferent and promised to someone else. Iris continued. "You and Prompto have known him since high school, right?"

"Yup. First year." She remembered her and her mother moving to Crown City that year. Everyone else already had established friend groups and Leo's abrasive personality didn't help her make friends. It was Prompto whom she decided to approach first one day, sitting by himself in the corner of the cafeteria. He was a wallflower, and she was unsociable. They became fast friends. When some boys tried to bully them in the first month Leo moved there, she got in a lot of trouble for beating the shit out of them.

But it made Prompto all the fonder of her. It was later that year that they met Noct. It was Prompto that approached him, confessing to Leo that he had been trying to befriend Noct for some time. So she stuck around the annoying prince for his sake. They clashed at first, but they soon grew to tolerate than like each other. By second year, their group was solid.

She told Iris all of this, who listened with rapt attention and fascination. Leo blushed once she finished relaying the story, hoping Prompto and Noct wouldn't mind. She had just gotten carried away. "Wow." Iris said. "And then you met Ignis and Gladdy after?"

"Me and Prompto always saw them around Noct in high school. But we only started hanging out after we graduated and joined the Crownsguard." The older boys were reluctant at first but tolerated them because they were Noct's friends. But it was impossible not to like Prompto who exuded sweetness. Then eventually, they started liking her too.

"Isn't it hard to travel with a bunch of boys?" Iris asked.

"Not really." Leo shrugged. "I doubt they remember I'm a girl." She certainly didn't go out of her way to act like one. Her hair was short, and she dressed in mostly hoodies and other baggy clothes. Sometimes she wore shorts, but her figure was so boyish, that no one felt the difference.

"But you are still a girl." Iris pointed out. "It's rude of them not to treat you like one."

What would that even look like? Leo shuddered at the thought. "Nah, I like it like this."

"Okay. As long as you're happy. You know, it's odd. I'm kinda jealous. I wish I could travel with you guys and be part of the group." She smiled at Leo's concerned look. "Don't worry. I'm also happy to support you guys from the sidelines." Iris really was sweet. Leo could see why Gladio was so protective. "So… do you like any of the boys?"

And she took it back. "Gross." Leo chucked a pillow at her.

"I'm just teasing." Iris laughed, throwing the pillow back. Leo had to chuck the pillow back at her. That escalated into an actual pillow fight. By the time they were spent, there were feathers strewn all over the room.

"Thanks Iris." Leo said, lying down on her back.

"What for?"

"I dunno. Hanging out with you was nice. So thanks."

She giggled. "You're welcome, silly. If you ever need girl time, I'm here."

Maybe she'd take her up on that.

...

Iris is kind of a tough character for me to write because honestly the game struggled a lot with it's female characters as they are significantly underdeveloped especially in comparison to the male ones. I'm not saying I'm doing better in this little snippet or anything, though lol.


	4. Chapter 4: Blast from the Past

So, not to be a bummer but I'm not super happy with this chapter. It's a little serious, but one of the first things I wrote for this character, so I wanted to include it.

...

They were on route to Lestallum to meet with some of Cor's friends. According to Noct, Cor had run into some surviving members of the Crownsguard as well, which would be a welcome source of information as to what had happened in Insomnia. Luckily, they had already been camped near the city when the call came so they could catch them before they left.

It was such a beautiful day that Prompto insisted on switching seats with Noct, so he could take sweeping shots of the landscape as they drove by. Leo held down his feet when he got so distracted that he was halfway out of back of the car. If it were anyone else, she'd be mad, but his excitement was too contagions. Besides, Ignis already had the role of mother in their group and gave Prompto an earful.

When they got into the city, Noctis looked to Ignis. "Hey, why don't we stay at a hotel tonight?"

They all looked to Ignis with anticipation and whooped when he nodded. "Yeah, soft beds!" Prompto cheered.

They then met up with the two Crownsguard soldiers in the market where Noct was told they were. They weren't of the highest rank, but any allies were welcome. The taller of the two, Claude, had to leave that night for business, but the other one, with fiery red hair, Ferrus, was in town for a few days. The boys continued to chat while Leo grew more and more tense without anyone's notice. Claude eventually took their leave, leaving them with Ferrus who captivated them with tales of their escape from the city.

It was only after a few minutes that Gladio noticed how quiet the normally vocal Leo was. He saw that she was looking anywhere but at Ferrus, and that Ferrus kept shooting her curious glances as well. "You two know each other?"

Leo turned a deep red, a remarkable feat for having such dark skin, while Ferrus smiled. The conversation stilled as everyone's attention fell to the two of them. "Uh—I—um…"

"Leo and I dated a few years ago." Ferrus explained, looking to her with a fond smile.

Leo's gaze was stuck on the ground as she visibly tied to not look at anyone. After a stunned silence, Noct laughed "Damn, you of all people had a boyfriend?"

"Shocking, I know." Leo snapped. "I'm going to go check in at the hotel now." With those words, she all but fled.

"C'mon man, did you have to make fun of her?" Prompt nudged Noct.

"I didn't know she'd freak out." Noct argued but looked at the path she'd left.

"It's alright, Prince Noctis." Ferrus said with a rueful smile. "I didn't mean to make her feel awkward."

"How long were the two of you together?" Ignis asked.

Ferrus rubbed the back of his neck and looked away as if he was reminiscing. "Almost a year."

The boys were silent at that. Noct and Prompto exchanged shocked glances. How was it that they of all people hadn't known that Leo had dated someone for that long? This would have been about the time she and Prompto joined the Crownsguard after high school. They refrained from questioning Ferrus on that topic further, and parted ways with him. "If you're still in town, we'll treat you to dinner." Gladio offered, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Least we can do for your service." Noct added.

"That sounds like a plan." With a final bow to Noct, he was on his way.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Prompto pulled on Noct's sleeve. "How did we not know about this?"

"I dunno, I didn't go around asking about her love life." Noct snapped back.

"Best not to tease her." Ignis warned the rest of them as they neared the hotel.

When Noct entered the room they normally stayed in, Leo jumped in surprise from her hunched position on the couch. She was fiddling with some tools in her lap but tossed them aside when she saw them. For their credit, Noct, Prompto, and Gladio followed Ignis's instructions… at first.

After they lounged about for a bit, Leo spoke up. "Hey, I think we should do that hunt tonight outside the city. It's the perfect night for it."

Noct groaned. "No way."

"Besides, we have a few weeks to complete that hunt." Ignis pointed out.

Leo was worrying her scarred lower lip. She nodded in defeat and plopped back down on the couch. "Also," Gladio added with a grin, "We're getting dinner with your boyfriend tonight."

Gladio thought that she'd turn red and yell at him a little. What took him aback was how Leo paled. "I—um—I can do the hunt on my own. I feel like killing something."

"Leo," Ignis turned from whatever he was writing in his journal and peered at her over his glasses. "If you don't wish to come to dinner, that's perfectly alright."

She gave a forced laugh, running a hand through her short boyish black hair. "You got me. Have fun."

They watched her all but flee the room. Gladio gave a low whistle. "That must have been an awkward break up."

Prompto couldn't take his mind off of how distressed she looked. "I'm going to go check on her." He announced, jogging out of the room. He didn't have to look far and found her on the roof of the hotel, leaning over the railing. He tapped her shoulder and she recoiled. "Leave me alone."

Prompto froze upon hearing the tears in her voice. "Hey, look at me."

After a moment of hesitation, Leo reluctantly complied, revealing her teary blue eyes. Upon being caught, she sobbed and buried her face in her hands. "What's wrong?" Prompto asked, immediately drawing her into a hug.

"Nothing," she said with a sniffle against his shoulder. "It's just me being stupid."

"It doesn't seem like nothing." He pointed out. After a moment, she drew out of the hug and wiped her eyes furiously, before resuming her gazing out at the city. Prompto watched her before it clicked. This was all related to that dude, wasn't it? He felt a bout of sympathy for her. Clearly, she was still in love with him. Prompto had never been in love before, but imagined it sucked to not have it reciprocated. "You don't mind me keeping you company, do you dude?"

Leo looked to him. "You don't have to if you don't want to." When he grinned at the subtle acceptance, she pouted. "Promise me you won't tell the others about this?" she indicated to her red eyes.

"Pinky promise." He stuck out his pinky for good effect. Leo laughed at that and wrapped her pinky around his.

They stood on that roof for a while, talking about mindless things. It relieved Prompto to see her go somewhat back to normal the more they talked. He had never seen Leo this distraught in all the years he'd known her. And he'd known her the longest out of all the boys. When he had the spare moment, he shot a quick text to Gladio, claiming to check his messages when Leo asked.

Once the temperature dropped further, Prompto nudged her. "Wanna head back inside?"

Leo was shivering in her t-shirt but seemed reluctant to leave her haven. "I don't look like I've been crying, do I?"

Prompto gave her a look over. "Nope, you look fresh as a daisy!"

She snorted at that but followed after him when he moved to leave the roof.

When they got back to the room, Leo was visibly surprised to see trays of room service and the boys dressed in their nightwear. "Um… what happened to dinner?"

Gladio shrugged and handed her a burger on a paper plate, which she took with some confusion. "Change of plans."

"I'm beat." Noct yawned unconvincingly. "I don't feel like going out now."

"We must comply to His Highness's wishes, after all." Ignis added.

"We'll treat the kid some other time." Gladio assured her before she can worry aloud. He clapped a large hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

A multitude of emotions crossed Leo's face, and Prompto worried she might cry again. But she nodded and plopped down on the bottom bunk of the bed beside Noct. "If you're sure… thanks." She looked to Prompto with that and he knew that she knew he'd arranged this stay in. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly but was glad to see that she looked to be in a better mood.

Prompto was fooled. And the rest of the boys were too for the night as they went to their respective bunks, Noct drawing the stick for the couch. It was the next morning when they set out that Ignis began notice that Leo was not acting like normal.

From his driver's seat, he spared a glance to her every couple of minutes. Gladio was absorbed with his current book, while Noct was snoring away. Leo was gazing out the side with a faraway look in her eyes. Her hand kept wandering to trace the scar on her lip.

He frowned as he continued inspecting her over the next hour as they drove out of Lestallum. While feeling awkward over encountering a past relationship was normal, this was a bit much. He had never seen Leo retreat into herself like this… as if she was afraid of something.

Ignis thought back to two years ago, when she had been in a relationship with this Ferrus. Leo, Noct, and Prompto had just graduated high school. Their group was just starting to form, and he didn't know her particularly well back then. There was that one time when…

Everyone jolted, startled, as the car swerved and Ignis made a sharp U-turn. "Wha-what the hell?" Noct sputtered, being rudely awoken.

"Surprised you woke up." Gladio joked, before looking to Ignis in concern. "But seriously, what's going on?"

Ignis didn't answer for a few minutes before a terrifying smile crossed his face. "Oh nothing serious. I just realised I forgot my notebook in Lestallum."

That was unlike Ignis. But still, no one protested. Ignis's notebook was too valuable in the recipes they knew it was full of. Still, Gladio noticed how tightly Ignis was gripping the wheel and the stiffness to his shoulders.

By the time they made it back to the scenic parking lot in Lestallum, the sun was about to set. By this time, Prompto was fast asleep in the front seat. Ignis parked properly then immediately got out of the car. "Someone's in a rush." Leo noted.

"It won't take long." Ignis straightened his coat.

"I could use the walk." Noct joined him.

"Me too." Gladio said, stretching out his long arms as he got out of the car.

Ignis looked to them but nodded. "Very well. Leo, you'd best stay with Prompto then lest he get confused." He said before Leo could think of offering to go with them. With that they were promptly off, leaving Leo watching them with a frown.

Gladio and Noct followed after Ignis towards the direction of the hotel they'd stayed in last night. But as soon as they were out of the car's sight, he made a sharp turn towards an opposite street. "Are you thirsty?" Noct asked, bewildered as they moved to a bar. "I thought you wanted to find your book?"

Wordlessly, Ignis pulled out his notebook from his coat pocket, before putting it back, resuming his path. Gladio and Noct were extremely confused as they followed after Ignis. Before they could question him further, they had entered the establishment. After looking about, Ignis found what, or who he was looking for. To their surprise, he pulled up a chair across Ferrus, who was nursing a mug of something at a booth by himself.

Gladio followed Ignus's example and slid in beside Ferrus. Noct opted to stand, confusion still displayed on his face. "Not that I mind," Ferrus said softly. "But I thought you lot were headed out today."

"We decided to take you up on the offer for dinner after all." Ignis said curtly.

"Uh, Iggy—"

Ignis held up a finger to silence Gladio's thought, which would have pissed him off if Ignis didn't look so grave. "I will cut to the chase," Ignis said, all pretences of formality gone. "Why is Leona afraid of you?"

There was a stunned silence at the table as that question rang through the air.

Ferrus blinked and leaned forward. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Yeah Ignis," Noct butted in. "That's a hell of a jump to make."

Ignis turned to look at the prince, making him flinch at the intensity of his stare. "Prince Noctis. You and Prompto have known Leo the longest, and yet you do not see it?" Before he can protest, Ignis asked a question that stopped him in his tracks. "Two years ago, do you remember when she broke her leg?"

He thought for a moment, then nodded, still not knowing what he was implying. Gladio however stiffened in his seat. The easy smile fell from Ferrus's lips as Ignis continued. "That was around the same time you broke up, was it not?"

"I see she's spreading lies about me." Ferrus said, face losing any kindness it once held. "I assure you it's not true. That incident was entirely an accident on her part."

A chill ran down Noct's spine as he finally understood what they were talking about. That time she broke her leg and laughed it off seemed so long ago. He dug through his memory and remembered him and Prompto visiting her in the hospital with a giant moogle plushie. He couldn't remember what she'd said, but suddenly he recalled how she stuttered over what put her there in the first place. He'd just assumed she had tripped somewhere and was embarrassed. He had no idea… Before he could react, Ignis asked "And the scar on her lip? Was that an accident as well?"

Ferrus scowled, answering Ignis's question. Gladio growled and grabbed him by the collar. "You bastard!" Ferrus struggled to escape Gladio's grip but was overwhelmed by the bigger man.

"Oh, of course you'd believe that bitch." Spite twisted his features. "Even if I did hit her, I promise, she deserved it."

Gladio was red now as he slammed his head down on the table. Other patrons of the bar cried out, but none moved to interfere as Noct in his anger drew forth his engine blade. Only Ignis sat still, his eyes the only thing betraying his fury. "Now, that is no way to talk about a lady."

Ferrus lifted his head as much as he could and grinned bloodily. "A lady? What a joke. Tell me, what's it like to share her between the four of y—ah!" his crude comment was interrupted by Gladio slamming his head down again.

Noct indicated to Gladio to lift him up. He looked dazed now as the prince stuck his blade under his chin. Before he could do anything, a new cry broke through the room. "Stop it!"

They all turned to see Leo rushing towards them with a bewildered Prompto trailing behind. "Leo." Ferrus groaned.

"Go fuck yourself." She said frankly, before grabbing Noct's arm and staring Ignis and Gladio down. "We're leaving, come on."

It took a few moments of insistence before Gladio dropped Ferrus ungracefully. To Leo's relief, the three of them followed after her as she left the bar. She saw Ignis leave some gil on the counter of the bar, the bewildered bartender taking it. Once they were outside, Prompto asked "What the heck is going on?"

Leo flushed, not wanting to relay what was going on. She saw Noct take Prompto by the arm and pull him to the back of the walking order. All she could make of their occasional mutterings were the occasional swear words. When the talking stopped, she looked back to see Prompto with tears swimming in his violet eyes.

But still, no one dared to talk to her. Her hands shook the entire way to the car, though from what emotion, was anyone's guess. Ignis chose to drive them to the nearest camp to the city, a few miles away. It was only when they were all seated around the campfire that Noctis finally spoke up. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you about what?" Leo snapped. "It wasn't important."

"Bullshit." Gladio scowled.

Leo couldn't take all of their angry faces and was severely tempted to run away, but Prompto stopped her by holding on to her hand. "I'm sorry for not noticing."

She looked away from them. "I didn't want any of you to notice."

Before anyone could respond, Noct snapped at her. "You could have reported him! Cor would have taken care of the bastard."

Leo shook her head. "I-I doubt anyone would have believed me." Before Noct could shout again, she stopped him. "It was a very convincing break. I'm a clutz. It makes sense for me to fall down some stairs instead of… well…" she trailed off, unable to complete the thought, ashamed.

"Could you relay the entire story now, if you're comfortable?" Ignis asked, appearing to be the calmest out of them all.

If she was comfortable… what a joke. She didn't really have a choice here if she wanted them to stop looking at her like that. Moments like these made her wish she wasn't a girl.

"He was real nice at first." Leo began reluctantly. It was the first and only time a boy had paid attention to her. He seemed like he liked her for who she was. "After a while though, he started getting pissy over every little thing. I think he hated me being in the crownsguard, or something. I don't know." Prompto squeezed her hand, encouraging her to go on. "I thought he'd go back to normal, but he only got worse." That was about the time he'd begun hitting her.

At first it was only gripping her wrist too tight, but it escalated to throwing a cup at her face, scarring her lip. Each time he went too far, he apologized immediately, showing convincing remorse. "I was dumb, and I stayed with him for longer than I should have." Her cheeks heated with shame. "But when I had enough and decided to break up with him, he was pissed.

"I was leaving the room, when he pushed me down the stairs." There, she said it. "He was nice enough to call an ambulance, at least." She shrugged. "He tried to apologise, but I avoided him after that and it worked." There was more to it than that. Her mom had found out about that situation and scared the bastard enough that he stopped coming by. "He left me alone from then on."

They were all silent as Leo finished her story. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at their faces anxiously. "Can we just pretend like this never happened?"

"Hard to do that." Gladio said. "I still want to go kick the shit out of that bastard."

"It's not his fault I was an idiot." Leo muttered.

"Is that what this is about?" Ignis asked, incredulously. "You're blaming yourself for this?"

At his look, she snapped. "Well, duh! I act like I'm hot shit, but I couldn't even defend myself back then. I was weak. So, yeah, I'm kind of to blame."

That was the worst part of all this, the real reason she froze up when Ferrus walked into her life again. It wasn't him she was afraid of. It was of what the boys would think if they found out what had happened. The last thing she wanted to be was weak, and that goddamned bastard had made her that.

"You're an idiot." Noct said bluntly. She winced and Prompto made a noise of protest. "What? She is. It wasn't your fault you got stuck in an abusive relationship, dumbass."

Leo could only stare at Noct dumbfounded. While he was harsh about it, his sentiment was surprisingly kind.

"And if you're weak, then what am I?" Prompto asked jokingly, prompting a tiny smile from her.

"Fine, I get it." She said, waving the two of them off. "Sorry for not telling you before. I thought it'd be humiliating, and oh look, I was right."

"There is nothing to be humiliated about." Gladio said firmly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Leo let that sink in and nodded. "Alright." At least things couldn't get worse. She couldn't stop them from knowing, but they hadn't reacted as horribly as she'd imagined. "Thanks for…" standing up for me, "Thanks I guess." She finished lamely.

Ignis nodded, and Noct rubbed the back of his head. "Just say the word and we'll hunt him down." Gladio offered once again.

"Nah, it's fine." Leo bit her lip. "I'll keep it in mind though. Mind if I turn in early?"

No one begrudged her of that. Leo rolled up in her sleeping bag, surprisingly less tense than she'd been in the past few days. Yeah, things could have definitely been worse.

No matter what, it was nice to know that her friends cared about her and didn't blame her for her past as she feared they would.

Perhaps she'd be able to forget about Ferrus completely now…


	5. Chapter 5: Loose Tongue

Chapter Text

Leo had no fucking idea what they were celebrating anymore.

In fact, why did people need to be celebrating something in order to get drunk? Why couldn't they just get drunk? That was what the three youngest members of their group were up to at the moment.

After a few drinks and half an hour, Prompto had fallen asleep at the counter of the bar, snoring gently and drooling all over the place. After making sure he was alright, Noct and Leo continued their contest to down as many shots as they possibly could.

"Good sir, I would like a porn star please!" Leo demanded.

Noct dissolved into a series of giggles at the name of the shot. "Pft… M-me too! Porn stars for both of us!"

The bartender shot the snickering pair a withering look before presenting the electric blue shots. They clinked their glasses before downing them. "Oh, that was nice!" Leo remarked.

"That was bullshit." Noct pouted. "It was all juice!"

"N-oo," Leo swatted him on the shoulder. "It's on the booze menu, ain't it?"

"Give us something proper." Noct ordered after squinting at the menu. "That one!" he pointed randomly. The shot that followed was a punishment compared to the previous sweet one. Noct had gotten his wish.

They took a little bit of a break from the drinking by way of argument. "You're allowed your opinion, even though it's wrong." Leo said.

"Shuddup, you know I'm right. I'm always right!"

"I mean, they're very pretty, but they ain't the prettiest."

"Final word on the matter." Noct said, his swaying on the barstool undercutting his serious tone. He pointed to the snoring golden head beside him. "Prom has the prettiest eyes. They're sooo purple. And when he's in the sun and his lashes are all golden, just forget it. There's no competition." Drunk as they were, there was no chance of either of them remembering this conversation in the morning.

Leo was about to propose her contender for prettiest eyes when Noct gagged. The bartender groaned. "Please, for the love of the six, go outside." Noct had the decency of stumbling through the doors before retching.

Because of that, the bartender refused to let Leo drink any more. What an asshole. Leo decided to find other ways to entertain herself. "Hey." She looked up from the arcade machine she was playing at to see two tall fuzzy figures. One of them had a groaning prince slung over his shoulder. "Where's Prompto?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Leo squinted at him.

"An asshole, that's who." Noct cried out.

Gladio couldn't help but grin. "Real funny, kids." He spied Prompto at the bar and moved out of Leo's sight. Good. She could focus on her game. She ignored Ignis, who stood to watch. Gladio came back, this time with a drowsy Prompto in tow in his other arm. "Uh, my hands are a little full Iggy."

"Worry not." Ignis said. "Leo is fit to walk with us. Aren't you, Leo?"

"Wha—no way? I'm totally gonna beat Noct's score this time."

Ignis chuckled. "You haven't even inserted a token."

Leo looked to the game, but it was all spinning. "I have too. Look, I'm winning." Those were definitely numbers that were flashing across the screen. Why else would they be there unless they were her score.

"Gladio, I'm gonna be sick again." Noct groaned.

"Oh, no you're not." Gladio said. "I'm gonna bring these two back to the hotel. You bring Leo."

"Affirmative." Ignis confirmed, watching Gladio lug Noct and Prompto (who had fallen asleep again) out of the establishment. He sighed as he turned his attention back to Leo. Leave it to the three of them to get utterly trashed as soon as they were left alone. At least they were all together and hadn't wandered out of the city. It was lucky that they had run into Noct being violently sick just outside the establishment. "It's getting rather late. We should get going now too."

Leo pouted at him. "No. Not until I win."

Ignis waited for a few minutes as she played with the bumpers of the game in futility. In her mind, it seemed, she was on the verge of a record, judging from her furrowed brow. "Ah, it seems you've beaten Noct's score. Congratulations."

She gasped and then cheered loudly. "I deserve another shot for this!" She moved to go to the bar but tripped over her own feet. Ignis caught her before she hit the ground.  
"I think not." He made sure she was secure with an arm around her waist, before he led her out of the bar. There were very few people left in the bar at this late hour and fewer out on the streets. Ignis grimaced at the mess just outside the door, taking care to give it a wide berth. What an unfortunate surprise for whoever was set to clean in the morning.

"Ugh, Ignis, s'not fair!" Leo complained the entire time. "I wanna stay!" When he didn't relent, Leo huffed. "Meanie."

"Did you just call me a 'meanie'?" Ignis couldn't help but grin at that. "I'm wounded."

"Oh, I didn't mean it." Leo shook her head. "Don't be sad. I'm sorry, really." Before he could reassure her that he didn't take any offence, she put a hand to her mouth. "Also, I think I'm going to puke."

Ignis immediately helped her to a nearby alley. He figured he should hold her hair back but could only smooth the errant curls away from her forehead. She took a few ragged breaths, but nothing seemed to come out. "I think I'm good." She groaned after a few minutes. "Maybe you're right. I think I want to sleep."

"Duly noted." Ignis chuckled. "Come now."

However, Leo couldn't seem to bring herself to stand properly or even lean on him. She seemed to catch Prompto's sleepiness. Ignis supposed he could have slung her over his shoulder like Gladio had Noct, but he hardly felt that would be proper. "It will be faster if I carry you. May I?"

Leo didn't really seem to absorb the question in her dazed state, but she nodded all the same. "Sure." With that, Ignis lifted her into his arms, one arm under her knees and the other at her back. "Sorry, I'm not too heavy, am I? You can probably leave me in the alley and pick me up tomorrow."

Even while drunk out of her mind, she worried about such a thing. "I will do no such thing. And no, you aren't heavy at all, Leo." He wouldn't tell her if she was. She was much lighter than the times he'd had to lug Noct around when he'd gotten injured. It probably had to do with her tiny frame.

"Hey Ignis." He looked down to her expectantly, but she only gave a goofy smile. "Can I try on your glasses?"

"Ask me again when you're sober and I shall consider it." She nodded at that, seeming to lose interest and nuzzle her head against his shirt.

About half way to the hotel, she stirred again. He could feel her contemplative stare at him. "What is it, Leo? Do you want to be let down?"

"I'm nice and comfy here." She slurred. "You should carry me more often, Iggy."

She said that perfectly innocently, but Ignis's eyes still widened at the implications of the words. "I see," was all he said lamely.

When he looked down at her again, she was frowning. When she noticed him looking, she shook her head. "Noct and I had a fight. Wanna settle it for us?"

"I don't see why not." He said, curious.

"Okay! So Noct told me that Prompto had the prettiest eyes in our group. Can you believe him?"

Ignis couldn't help but laugh at that. He had thought it was something serious. He felt bad after seeing the upset look on Leo's face at his reaction. "You need not worry, Leo. Your eyes are very pretty." She blinked at him in confusion. He wasn't lying. Her eyes were big and bright blue, made even more shocking with the contrast of her dark brown skin. They were indeed beautiful in the moonlight, gazing up at him.

"I wasn't talking about me." She said, as if it were obvious. She squinted at him and nodded resolutely. "Yeah, clearly your eyes are the prettiest Iggy."

stopped working. "I beg your pardon?"

She beamed at him. "Well duh. Your eyes are so green and sharp and well… pretty! They look really good on your face!"

He felt his face grown hot at her words and her radiant smile. "I—well—I mean— thank you." He was lost on what to say. "Leo?" he looked down at her silence to see her slumbering away. He smiled upon receiving a snore as a response.

Ah, he had reached the hotel without realising it. He climbed the stairs to the room they were sharing and nodded to a weary looking Gladio sitting on the couch. It seemed he had volunteered to take it for the night. "I assume they were trouble." He looked to Noctis who was sprawled out on the lower bunk of the bed on the right and Prompto who was on the upper one. Both of them were snoring incessantly.

Gladio snorted. "You have no idea. How's Leo?"

"…Manageable." With that, he lowered her on the empty bed. She groaned at the shift but curled into herself before resuming her slumber. Ignis made sure to slide her shoes off before covering her with the blanket. He grabbed a can of ebony before plopping down next to Gladio.

"We oughta join them next time."

"Who would bring us back?"

"True that. Are ya gonna be nice to them in the morning?"

"Oh definitely not."

Ignis was true to his word. The next morning, Prompto was the first to rise. Even though he had drunk the least, his headache was aggravating. "Good, you're up." Ignis said from his position at the counter. "You can wake Noct and Leo up."

"Please…" Prompto groaned, burying his face in the covers. The blinds had been opened and sunlight was pouring in. "Have mercy."

"You should have thought of that last night." Ignis smiled sharply. "Wake them up. Breakfast is almost ready."

Prompto felt like puking at the mere thought of eating, but Ignis looked scary so he scrambled off the top bunk, nearly falling on his butt. He went to Noct first, who was a starfish on his bed. "Noct. Wake up dude!" But Noct did not respond in the slightest. He was unbothered by the glaring sunlight and Prompto's nudging. He gave up and moved to Leo's bed. Luckily, she responded to Prompto's calls, though she swore in response. "Leave me alone."

"Sorry dude." Prompto said before ripping off her covers. "Ignis's orders."

Leo whined a bit before reluctantly crawling out of bed. "What happened last night?"

"That's a good question." Prompto said blearily. If Leo felt bad, Prompto looked terrible with dark circles under his eyes and a greenish cast to his face. "Maybe Noct knows."  
"Let's find out." Leo said, curious herself. "Ay, Noct!" she nudged him. Nothing, he only rolled over with a mumble. That wasn't going to cut it. If she was forced to be awake, so would he. She didn't do this often as Noct hated it, but she went to the sink and got a cup of water. She handed it to Prompto. "He'll be nicer to you."

Prompto swallowed. But one look from Ignis had him tip the water onto Noct's head. Noct shrieked as he awoke. "What the hell?!"

"Gah, sorry dude." Prompto said. "Ignis wants us up."

"No way Specs!" Noct yelled. "I'm sleeping in." Before he could sink into his bed once more, the pallor of his face changed. "Oh no."

Leo and Prompto retreated backwards as they saw the face Noct made. Luckily, Ignis saved them by presenting a bucket before Noct emptied the contents of his stomach once more. "Better out than in."

"I'm never drinking again." Prompto promised.

"Me neither. Whose brilliant idea was it anyway?" Leo asked.

The three of them stared at each other in confusion, their memories of the night so rattled that they couldn't even remember that. When Noct scrambled past them into the bathroom, Ignis gestured to the tiny table by the kitchen. Prompto and Leo sat down slowly. Once Noctis stumbled out of the bathroom, he too joined them.

They stared at Ignis apprehensively as he worked in the kitchen. "I'm not feeling hungry, Ignis." Noct said.

Ignis only chuckled. "I wasn't asking." Leo was expecting him to put down bacon, maybe even pancakes out of sympathy, but instead he presented three tall glasses filled with a nasty looking smoothie.

"No." Noct said, pushing it away.

"You'll drink if you want to feel better." Ignis looked unfazed. "Otherwise, I fear the car ride will be rather uncomfortable."

"Is this a punishment, Ignis?" Leo groaned. "You're so mean!"

Leo missed the way Ignis's lips quirked up at that word. "It's not too bad."

Prompto was the first one brave enough to try a sip. His face lit up. "He's right. It's a little spicy, but not bad!" That was enough for Leo, who tentatively took a sip. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but she liked the fruit and the ginger. Ugh, but the seeds. Those were nasty. Eventually, Noct shut up and drank it too, only making disgusted noises a few times.

Once she had finished, she actually felt a lot better. Whatever Ignis had put in the drink was easy on her stomach at least. Noct and Prompto looked a bit brighter too. Noct even looked almost awake. It was then that she kind of remembered. They went for Noct, thinking that he needed a break after Titan and all the headaches he went through. Well, now he probably had a different sort of headache.

Leo was about to ask if she could go back to sleep when Gladio entered the room with a grin. "Ready to train guys?"

Noct slammed his head down on the table as Leo directed a horrified look at Gladio. He was serious, wasn't he?

What did they do last night to piss them off so much?

...

So, in game, I'm finally ready to go to Altissia. I'm a completionist and needed to finish all the side quests and hunts I could. It's been like weeks of playing and I haven't touched the story in a while. It's kind of exciting and different for me to be writing while not knowing how the game is going to unfold. I might have shot myself in the foot in several ways but I can always go back and edit stuff.

Also I feel better writing drunk people now since I actually know what it's like lol.

Blink and you'll miss the Promptis ;)


	6. Chapter 6: The Other Team

"Can't wait to see Hammerhead again!" Prompto was in a good mood as they drove towards the gas station. Cid had certain parts that Leo needed for one of Prompto's guns and the car needed a touch up too.

"Is it Hammerhead you can't wait to see—"

"Or Cindy?" Noct finished Gladio's inquiry.

Prompto blushed and waved off their teasing. By the time they had pulled into the gas station, it was midday. Leo went away from the group immediately to see Sid, seated in front of the garage with a beer. "Drinking so early in the day, old man?"

"None of your business." He dismissed her. "Ya here for your parts?"

She nodded eagerly and was directed to the garage, where a bag lay. She looked through and nodded in satisfaction. It was all there. "Thanks, Sid."

The others approached and greeted Sid. While they talked, Cindy joined them. "How are y'all doing?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Good." Noct answered.

"Wow, Cindy." Prompto was by her side instantly. "You're done already? That's amazing!"

"All she needed was a quick oil change." She said. "You've been taking good care of her. Are y'all gonna get lunch? I'll join you!"

"Sounds good." Gladio said. "To the Crows Nest."

Leo and Prompto exchanged delighted looks at the thought of greasy food. Ignis's cooking was great and all, but sometimes one craved nice disgusting fried food. They sat down at the counter, where Cindy sat herself down between Noct and Leo. "Grandpa got those parts to you alright, sugar?" she leaned towards Leo.

"Yup." Leo grinned. She began to describe the modifications she was to make to the gun. Cindy listened with rapt attention. It was nice to have someone who understood mechanical terms. "Wow, that's a great suggestion!" Leo said with surprise as Cindy proposed a different way of fixing up the barrel. She pulled out her notebook and wrote it down messily on the margins of a random page and folded the ear, so she could come back to it later.

Taka presented the food to them then. Leo put her book away and began to devour the burger and fries.

Leo didn't think anything of it when Cindy started talking to her again. "Do you cut your hair yourself, Leo?

"Oh? No, Prompto usually does it." She turned to Prompto who was naturally sulking from Cindy not paying attention to him.

This made Cindy look to Prompto and then back to Leo. "Well you do a good job, Prompto. That haircut looks real cute on you, Leo."

Prompto choked on his water and Ignis resisted a smirk. "Thanks!" Leo said, oblivious as ever. "You okay, Prompto?" she asked, patting him on the back.  
"Never better." He said, recovering.

They continued on like this. Leo noticed Gladio give her a few unsubtle grins throughout the meal, which confused her greatly. Cindy continued to talk to her about various things keeping Leo occupied until the bill came. "It's my treat." Cindy stopped Noct before he could pay. "Least I can do for my favourite customers."

Noct put away his wallet. "Kay. Thanks."

Cindy walked them back to the car. "Hey Leo? Ya got a minute, darl?"

"Yeah sure." Leo said. Prompto made a noise in the back of his throat and Gladio patted him on the shoulder. Noct and Leo seemed to be the only ones who didn't get it.  
Leo gave Cindy her full attention as they stopped in front of the Crows Nest, out of earshot of the boys. "If you're staying nearby, you should let me take you out to dinner." Cindy said, brushing golden hair out of her eyes.

Cindy towered over Leo with her taller height and heeled boots. She was the same height as Noct. "Yeah sure." Leo nodded. "We could all go out." Prompto would definitely love that.

Cindy laughed and shook her head. "No. Um, I'm thinking just the two of us, if that's alright." Why would Cindy just want it to be the two of them? Was it like with Iris, where she wanted to have a girls' night and talk about boys? Cindy didn't seem like that. She always gave Leo her undivided attention. Cindy must have seen the confusion on Leo's face. "Oh dear. Leo, you know I'm asking you out on a date, don't you?"

Leo stared at her as she processed this information. "A- a date?" she sputtered as she understood. Her face reddened. "As in a romantic date?"

"Yeah, silly." Cindy nodded shyly. "I'm mighty sorry for being so forward. I know you and the boys are all over the place, so I wanted to take my chance. I think you're cute and brilliant and I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

Wait… Cindy liked girls? Leo scrambled to find words as she looked at Cindy's easy smile. Leo had never considered such a possibility before. Leo had only ever dated one person, and it happened to be a boy. She wasn't totally against the idea of girls, but none had shown interest before. As a matter of fact, she just wasn't used to people in general finding her attractive. She could never imagine that someone as gorgeous as Cindy could consider her of all people. "I… um, thank you Cindy. I'm flattered, really."

"But…?"

It was too fast. Leo hardly knew Cindy. She was really pretty, but Leo didn't feel what she should have when she looked at her. It'd be dishonest to lead her on. "Everything's just so crazy right now." Leo rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ah, that's alright. I figured I'd give it a shot." At Leo's worried look, Cindy smiled. "Don't you worry about it. I appreciate your honesty, darl. We can still be friends, right?"  
"Oh-of course." Leo nodded vigorously and shook Cindy's hand like an idiot. "You know, Prompto wouldn't be like totally opposed to hanging out." she offered weakly.

Cindy grinned. "I'm afraid he's not my type." Ouch. It seemed Cindy wasn't bi, shooting Prompto's chances down to the ground. "See you around?"

"Yeah, thanks, Cindy. I'll see you around." With that, she all but fled the scene, blushing harder and harder as she processed the conversation.

When she made it to the car, the boys sans Noct were staring at her expectantly. "Well?" Gladio asked. "What'd she say?"

Leo pressed her hands to her hot cheeks and turned to Prompto. "I—um— sorry Prompto. I don't think Cindy likes boys."

"Nooo." Prompto whined dramatically. "How will my heart recover?"

"They'll be other girls, buddy." Gladio patted him on the shoulder.

"Wait, really?" Noct asked, surprised. "How do you know?"

Ignis groaned at the obliviousness of the prince. Leo blushed further. "Well, I mean, she kind of asked me out."

Noct gaped at her like a fish. "Did you say yes?"

She shook her head. "She was really cool about it, though."

"Well, as long as you're both civil about it." Ignis nodded.

"Should we go now?" she asked, eager to divert the conversation.

Leo was sure Cindy would continue to be graceful about what had happened. She didn't seem the type to get hung over such a thing. She probably had rows of suitors lined up. Still, Leo worried about the fight she'd have to wage with herself every time she came back to Hammerhead to contain her blush. But that was a hopeless case. Leo knew she blushed way too easily. It wasn't fair.

Truly, she wished Cindy would find a wonderful girl that could return her affections… and that Prompto would get over the shock.


	7. Chapter 7: Detective Gladio Part 1

They finally had a bit of a break from the troublesome past few days. After destroying one of the empire's fortresses. Gladio was a bit late to hit the sack as he had some training he wanted to do. When he came back to camp in the dead of night, Ignis was the only one up. "I'll be there shortly. I was just planning our schedule for the next week."

"Good night then." Gladio waved before heading into the tent. Noct, Prompto, and Leo were all asleep already. Probably tuckered out from the past few days.

As he got ready for bed, he heard Leo muttering from her corner of the tent. Curious, Gladio walked over to her to check and see if she was alright. Well, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough with that slight smile on her face. It was only when he began to walk away that he heard Leo sigh a word that stopped him in his tracks. "Ignis…"

He whirled back and stared at her sleeping form in shock. She didn't… Holy shit. She totally did, didn't she? No… he could have just misinterpreted her. Or it may have been said innocently. He let it go for the night, despite the ideas such a development set in motion in his head. Leo and Ignis? He had never considered such a pairing. No. He couldn't just let this go.

The next morning Gladio watched Leo and Ignis like a hawk. If there was anything going on between them that they were hiding, he would have noticed. Right? Still, they acted totally normally. Leo was arguing with Noct about something trivial while Ignis was cooking away without a care. He broke his observation when Prompto waved a hand in front of his face. "You okay, big guy?"

This drew everyone's gaze, making Gladio shrug in self-defence. "Just zoning out. Don't mind me."

Ignis looked at him curiously for a moment, but for the most part everyone forgot about it. Gladio kept his investigations subtle from then on out. For the next few days, he watched. Ignis and Leo were perfectly civil to each other, but nothing suggested interest. Sure, Ignis berated her on a reckless move in battle, and Leo passed him a can of Ebony, but that was all normal.

When they were setting up in camp a few nights after the initial incident, Gladio couldn't help but ask Leo about what he'd heard that night. He found her a few metres away from camp, working on a bomb. "Hey kid."

"Yeah?" Leo asked, not looking up from the work she was intently focussed on.

"I heard you say Ignis's name in your sleep a few nights ago." He just said it. Just like that without any warning. Real smooth.

Leo dropped her screwdriver and turned to look at him in shock. "What? Are you making this up?"

"Nope. I'm sure I heard it." He smiled to alleviate the awkwardness in the air. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Leo snapped. "I didn't say anything like that?"

"Anything like… Ignis?"

She turned a bright red. "I didn't." She rose up hurriedly. "I'll prove it. Spar with me. If I win, you admit you were wrong!"

Gladio laughed. Beating him in a fight wouldn't change what she said, and he heard. "Okay. If I win, you tell me if you like Ignis."

With that he led them to a secluded clearing and beckoned her forward. Leo charged with a cry and began a flurry of punches that he deflected with ease. She was flustered. It was making her fight without clarity. Still, when he moved to attack, Leo swung out of his way with natural instinct. They kept at it for a good half hour until they were both drenched in sweat and Leo was struggling to breathe. "Wanna call it?"

"No way!" Leo shouted, moving to attack him again.

Luckily, he spotted an opening and pinned her down. He let go of her after a few seconds and plopped down on the ground with a relieved sigh. He turned to her, where she sat down beside him, a scowl on her face. "I win."

"No need to rub it in." Leo drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "I have no idea why you heard me say Ignis's name." she said earnestly. "I don't like him in that way!"

Fine. He could buy that. But why did she get so defensive if she didn't like him. Maybe Leo was just embarrassed by him coming to that conclusion. "Could you have said it like unconsciously?"

"I don't see why?" Leo brushed her hair back with her hand, frustration clear in her blue eyes. "I mean, even if I did, which I don't, how could it be a possibility?"

"What do you mean?" now they were on the verge of something.

"Well, say I did like Ignis, which I don't, why would he give me the time of day? We're too different. He'd probably like someone more, I dunno, girly." She laughed. "I mean, can you imagine it? I doubt he'd go for someone like me. So I don't know what you heard, but I don't like him."

Gladio could only stare at her, understanding dawning on him. So she didn't want to admit it to herself, because she didn't think Ignis could ever possibly be interested in her. He thought about it and felt like kicking himself. He hadn't considered if Ignis was interested. If he was, he didn't show it. Pushing her like this was a jerk move in that case. "Hey, I'm sorry for teasing you Leo. We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to."

She sighed and then fell back onto the ground. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Thanks Gladio."

"If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me." He helped her up before heading back to camp. She went back to her workstation and resumed her bomb with new vigor. He wouldn't push her further. Leo never responded well to prodding. But he'd keep an eye on this development. He could only hope that no one got hurt.


	8. Chapter 8: The Start of Something

A/N: I'm garbage. It's fine. Here's more.

...

Though Ignis knew Noct wasn't nearly as bad of a driver as they liked to make him out to be, he couldn't help but be slightly anxious when the prince was at the wheel. Especially when it was dark out. The Prince insisted on finishing inspecting the sources of power around Lestallum for Holly, but doing so had taken some time. Now, they were off to the nearest civilization, which happened to be miles away.

Gladio was absorbed with his book while Leo and Prompto kept talking to Noct. Part of him wanted to dissuade them in order to allow him to focus, but he knew backseat driving could prove a greater distraction. Instead, Ignis let himself gaze out at the scenery which he rarely got to enjoy behind the wheel.

The conversation stilled. One or more of them must have fallen asleep. Well, it was a long drive to their destination. Ignis found himself lost in his own thoughts until a pressure on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He looked to his shoulder to see Leo asleep with her head on his shoulder.

Leo fell asleep in the car often. And from her position in the middle, she ended up leaning on Gladio or Noctis. They were so far into their journey, that they easily moved her back into an upright position. Ignis had full leave to do that, by all accounts.

But he didn't. He let Leo rest against his shoulder. It was the first time that she had ever fallen asleep on him, and he couldn't bring himself to disturb her. Besides, she was no bother with how light she was. It was rather ungentlemanly of Gladio and Noctis to push her aside anyhow. So, he let her be.

As Noct drove, Ignis found his gaze alternating between the landscape that they drove past and Leo's sleeping face. It was impolite to stare, he knew, but something magnetic drew his eyes. He was inexplicably reminded of the time he had carried her back to the hotel when she was too drunk to walk. But this time, she wasn't sickly looking, but rather relaxed.

Ignis had never taken the time to look before. But from here, he could admire the dusting of dark freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her upturned nose. Foolish of him to ever consider her plain. The more he looked, the more he found to admire. Hmm. He distanced himself from the thought and focused on the view outside the car once more, resolutely.

But even in her sleep, Leo proved unpredictable. Ignis stiffened as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder and laid a hand against his chest, gripping his shirt lightly. She hummed under her breath, seeming to enjoy using him as a pillow. Ignis sighed, trying to will away the blush he felt rise to his cheeks. He found he didn't entirely mind how close she was. He felt the desire to wrap an arm around her… to secure her against him of course.

His thoughts were rather odd. No. He couldn't go thinking like this. Fatigue was probably causing his mind to wander to such strange places. Still, that fluttering in his chest was rather troublesome.

Leo stirred when Noct pulled over at the gas station. Ignis watched her straighten up and blink in confusion, before a bright flush spread across her cheeks. She laughed shyly. "Sorry Ignis. Your shoulder must be so sore."

He adjusted his glasses. "It was no problem."

"Next time, you have full permission to push me off." With that she left the car through Gladio's side, who was already outside and stretching. Ignis smiled to himself once she was out of sight.

Next time… He broke himself out of that thought and nudged the other person still in the car. "Time to wake up, Prompto. We have arrived."

Prompto awoke with a yawn, his hair flattened on one side. "You look like you're in a good mood."

Ignis blinked in surprise. "Do I?" he smirked, despite himself. "…I suppose I am."

He'd have to sit in the back seat more often.


	9. Chapter 9: Detective Gladio Part 2

There was a world of a difference in the way Leo and Ignis kept their precious notebooks.

Leo's notebook was ratty, almost to the point of carelessness. The fine brown leather was faded by the elements from all the times she'd left it out for too long. Once, Leo left her book out in the camp and Gladio came across it. She'd never been secretive about it. It wasn't like Iris's diary, which she guarded with her life.

When Gladio flipped through the sun browned pages, he found he could barely decipher her scrawl, written in large messy letters that looped too much to be legible to anyone other than her. What did surprise him were the occasional pressed flowers that Leo had taped to the pages, scent mingling with the leather and black powder that dusted many of the pages.

He had to admit, they took for granted how much of a genius Leo was, a fact he was reminded of as he came across several illustrations and diagrams of her bombs and their weapons. Though he couldn't read any of the writing, the complex calculations were clear enough. He could also tell when a project was a scrapped one as there would be a harsh 'X' over the diagram or the page would be entirely ripped out. There was no rhyme or reason to the way she structured her work, as she went back and forth from projects that seemed to have nothing to do with each other.

Gladio had to be careful not to lose any pages as Leo had stuffed scraps of paper between a lot of the pages, filling the book to the point of strain that the band binding it could barely hold. He was satisfied after flipping through it quickly, losing interest with the technical nature of it. He bound it up and put in back on the chair.

So, when Gladio by chance had the opportunity to rifle through Ignis's notebook, where he left it on the counter one day, he couldn't resist. After all, it was probably just like Leo's, filled with technical stuff like recipes.

Immediately, the difference in their work was clear as Ignis wrote in a tiny, neat cursive. And his black book was conveniently divided into sections for different things. The first was surprisingly notes on outposts and locations for if they ran into trouble as well as phone numbers of every gas station they'd encountered. How responsible.

The largest chunk of the book was occupied by recipes. Ignis noted down his inspiration for each recipe as well as making notes on adjustments for each of their individual preferences. Damn. He even knew which specific fish Gladio hated, despite him never telling him. He never realised how much trouble Ignis put into the specifics of each meal. Prompto was allergic to rye flour? Who knew. After he amused himself with reading of each of their dietary details, he continued through the journal.

Soon, Gladio encountered something that he never expected of Ignis. _No way_.

Ignis… wrote poetry!

He should have stopped right there and left the book where he'd found it, but he couldn't help but skim over a few lines. Ignis mostly wrote couplets or little snippets that were in the margins or at the end of his scheduling or reflections of the day. Gladio couldn't help but wince as he read through. _With her smile the riot starts._ No wonder Ignis never shared. This shit was pretty corny.

Soon, he began to see that Ignis was writing about someone in particular. One line arose his suspicions… _A thousand stars resting on your visage_ …another confirmed it. _Her eyes thought of rain. And I drowned in them_.

…Maybe Leo's affection wasn't totally one sided.

When had this happened? Clearly, Ignis hadn't acted on any feelings. If he had, Gladio would have known as Leo had a terrible poker face. He had been sitting in the back more often, but Gladio had just thought it was because he was growing to trust Noct to drive. Well, now the question was what Gladio was going to do with this information. Ignis would be pissed if he found out Gladio had gone through his book, so that was out. Maybe all he could do was keep an eye out for now.

But a little gentle prodding here and there couldn't hurt.


	10. Chapter 10: That Bastard

"Gladio!" Noct cried as that bastard threw him into the Regalia. Prompto crouched beside the prone man. Noct pulled out his arms. "Hey! Wanna go? Let's do it."

"Should the chosen fall, that too is fate." Ravus sneered at them.

"Asshole!" Leo pushed Noct back, before he could charge in and did so herself, swinging a fist at Ravus.

She had the satisfaction of seeing him surprised, but was stopped before her fist could connect. "I'd say that's far enough." Ardyn had appeared between them, grabbing Leo's fist as easily as if it were a baseball. Leo saw red as he smiled down at her, patronisingly.

He made no show of letting go of her hand, no matter how she pulled so she did the only rational thing she could and swung her other fist at him. He moved out of the way easily and applied pressure to the hand he was holding, causing Leo to gasp in pain. He had crushed through her brass knuckle. "You motherfuck-AH!" He crushed her hand further.

"My! How crass. A young lady ought to be more gentle." Ardyn leered down at her. Oh, she'd show him how gentle she could be, she thought as she reached into her coat with her free hand.

"Let her go!" Noct ordered.

"As you wish." Ardyn nodded, mockery clear in his smile as he pushed Leo back. She stumbled back from the push and was caught by the shoulders by gloved hands. She moved to charge forward again, but she was held turned to see it was Ignis, who had an angry set to his mouth that softened when he met her gaze.

Ardyn waved mockingly, drawing back her attention. "The next time we meet shall be across the sea, Prince Noctis. Farewell." With that, he and Ravus walked off.

Leo remembered Gladio and shook from Ignis's grasp to crouch beside him with Prompto. She felt a rush of relief to see he was stirring and didn't look to have any injuries. "You okay, big guy?" Prompto asked.

Gladio blinked in confusion and looked around, drawing his sword. His gaze became steely as it became clear to him that Ravus was gone. "Damn it." he slammed a fist on the ground. That action suddenly made Leo acutely aware of the pain in her own hand. She winced and cradled it to her chest.

Still, she used her okay hand to help Gladio up. He seemed winded, but more pissed than anything else. "It seems like you all knew that guy?" Prompto asked, still bouncing with nervous energy.

Good point. Leo hadn't even thought about it. "Yeah, who is that asshole?"

"Ravus Nox Fleuret." Wait… "Lady Lunafreya's elder brother."

Well shit. If Noct was pissed about her calling his future brother in law an asshole, he didn't seem it. He just seemed frustrated. Leo couldn't blame him. "Let's get out of here."

"A moment." Ignis said. Leo yelped in pain when he touched her injured hand. He shot her an apologetic look and she shook her head to assure him it was cool.

"Aw hell." Noct said, moving to look at the hand that was becoming more swollen by the minute.

"I need to remove the metal, it's stuck." Leo commented cheerfully. "We can do that whenever we stop for the night."

Ignis stared at her reproachfully and pulled her toolkit from the Armiger. "If we wait that long, it will get worse."

Leo groaned and reached into the bag with her good hand to pull out a strong set of pliers. "I can do it in the car." she protested.

"In a moving car?" Gladio scoffed. "Just get it over with, kid."

Well there was no need to be so snippy. She frowned as she stared at the mess that was her hand. If she were left handed, she'd feel better about this, but she wasn't so she was bound to slip up. "May I?" Ignis asked, outstretching a hand. Leo hesitated, but nodded, handing him the pliers. If she trusted anyone to do this, it would have to be Ignis.

The others moved to sit in the car with the exception of Gladio, who stood in front of the car, surveying the scene for any sign of the empire, Leo heard the sound of the radio playing the news as well as hushed conversation between Noct and Prompto. It seemed the blockade was already being lifted. She focussed on the news as Ignis pried the metal from her hand. "I'm sorry." Ignis said softly once the brass had been loosened enough to be pulled off.

"No, you're doing great." Leo smiled through her pain.

"Not for that… I meant…" Ignis's brow was furrowed in a frown. He maintained a grip on her hand, which Leo was trying really hard not to notice.

Oh, he was angry wasn't he? She recognised that look from the times she had been too reckless in battle. "Are you mad at me?" she asked quietly as he continued to tend to her hand.

Ignis paused in his work, and looked to hre in surprise. "Why would I be angry with you?" Leo shrugged, looking away and to her hand, which was becoming more purple by the minute. She didn't know what to say to him, so she let him work in quiet. "I'm going to need to set your fingers before using a potion."

She took a deep breath. "Just do it."

Ignis nodded and snapped her fingers into place. Leo couldn't help but let out a cry of pain. Prompto propped his head up from the car in worry and she waved him off. "'M fine!" Ignis could only stare down at her with his own pained expression at having to cause her pain. At least the hard part was over and the potion seemed to ease the pain.

He only wished he could have taken the blow for her.


	11. Chapter 11: Worry

What in the name of the six were they supposed to do when the mother of the group was bedridden?

It had started out manageable enough. After a night spent out in the cold rain hunting a Gigatoad, they were all slightly sniffly. The next morning Gladio was the first up, which was a matter of suspicion for him. Ignis's internal clock made it so he was always up at the crack of dawn.

After a quick check on the time, he saw it was past noon. When he went to check on Ignis, his worst fears were confirmed. Ignis lay there, fast asleep, and looking ill. With a hand to the forehead, he saw it was a nasty fever. "Damn."

Once the others woke, Noct included after some prompting, he relayed the news to everyone's panic. "Is it bad?" Prompto asked with wide eyes.

"Just looks like a fever." Gladio answered gruffy. They needed to go to town to get medicine, and maybe a doctor if things got worse. He conveyed that plan and Noct and Prompto nodded, immediately on board.

Leo instead went to Ignis, her own hand checking his condition. "We can't just leave him here."

Gladio nodded. "Stay with him then. Call us if anything changes." Leo moved to protest, but they were already moving to the car. She shook her head and committed to it. Ignis always took care of her, so the least she could do was take care of him.

The first thing she did was grab a towel and soaked it with water from the cooler. She went to Ignis, and brushed his light brown hair back from his hot forehead to place the significantly colder cloth. Ignis sighed in his sleep from the contrast and Leo worried he'd shake it off, but he stilled after a moment. "Oh Ignis."

She watched him like a hawk for a few hours before she realised with panic that sick people needed to eat too. She left the tent flap open as she worked to make soup. Her version of making soup was using the soup packet in Gladio's bowl noodles without the noodles. It was the best she could do with her limited skills and her anxiety about leaving Ignis alone for too long.

Leo relaxed once she was by his side again. Ignis occasionally stirred, but didn't wake fully. When she moved to check his temperature by placing a hand on his forehead, he grabbed her wrist, making Leo yelp in surprise. His eyes were open, gazing at her, unfocussed.

"Are you hungry, Ignis?"

He groaned, rubbing his free hand over his eyes. The towel fell from his forehead, letting his disheveled hair fall freely. Leo couldn't help but notice that he looked nice with his hair free like this. Leo gave him the mug of soup, which he barely tasted before his brow wrinkled in disgust. "Too much salt. It needs… I don't know… It needs something."

Leo rolled her eyes and took away the soup. She gave him water instead which he drank readily. "You have a fever." she explained. "The others are getting medicine, so don't worry. You can sleep now."

He clearly wasn't in his right mind as he nodded sleepily, mumbling something about paprika. Leo froze as he moved his hand down her wrist to weave his fingers through hers. His skin was hot and clammy, but his grip remained steadfast. He closed his eyes and a soft breath emerged from his parted lips, telling her that he had fallen asleep once more.

Leo could only stare at their intertwined hands in growing confusion. He was delirious. That's why he had grabbed her hand. She could have let him go, but she was worried it would bother him when he looked so peaceful. Besides, some part of her savoured the touch and didn't want it to end so soon.

A horrifying revelation struck her mind as she watched him sleep. _Oh no._ She had been so desperate to prove Gladio wrong.

 _I do have feelings for him._


	12. Chapter 12: Confession

**Leo has one braincell and it stops working when Ignis is around, lol. Please review if you liked it. This chapter took a lot of work as I rewrote it many times.**

 **...**

Leo watched the flames crackle in the centre of the camp, her knees pulled to her chest. A lot had happened so quickly. She didn't really have the luxury to be distressed about it. That'd be unfair to Noct, who was clearly taking it the hardest. She needed to be better. Not just in battle, but with everyone's weapons. So she threw herself into her work, spending every spare moment she had. She was working on sharpening her brass knuckles, when she was tapped on her shoulder.

Leo whirled around and relaxed to see only Ignis. "Hey." She went back to her polishing, trying to look nonchalant.

"I am off to find some ingredients for supper tonight. Would you care to join me?"

"Um…" she put her stuff back in her toolbox. "Sure. Let's go."

Ignis smiled, making her chest do funny things. "I appreciate it." She took his offered hand and propped herself up, rubbing the dirt off her knees. Everyone was off doing their own things anyways. Noct and Gladio had gone fishing, while Prompto was pouring through his camera.

Leo enjoyed the walk, going where Ignis led her. She didn't think to ask what they were after, relishing in the peace of the evening. It had rained yesterday, giving the air a fresh scent. One thing began to bother her, though. She and Ignis didn't usually need to fill the air with meaningless chatter, but he usually wasn't this quiet. She wondered if she should break the silence, not realising that Ignis had led her to the top of an outcrop.

Curiosity took over in her mind as she watched him wordlessly lean against the railing. "Are we going down there for your ingredients?" she asked, leaning over the railing, looking down at the forest floor beneath them. Did he want to jump down there? Wouldn't it be faster to take the road?

"Truthfully, there are no ingredients I need." Leo froze at that confession and looked to Ignis, who was staring at her with a perplexing expression on his face.

He must have remembered that he already had whatever he set out for. That was alright. "Should we go back then?"

Ignis indicated to the sky. "I thought the sunset would be nice here."

Leo smiled nervously and turned to pay attention the sky she had neglected. "Didn't know you were so sentimental. But sure, as long as we're here…" The sun was getting lower, casting the sky in golden hues. It seemed they were just in time to see it. Leo would have thought Ignis had planned this, but that would be ridiculous.

Right?

 _Stop it. You're just making things weird._ She told herself sternly, dedicating herself to watch the setting sun. She still peeked a glance or two at Ignis beside her. He was looking at the sunset, but he didn't seem to be seeing it.

The sun disappeared beneath the horizon, leaving a few tendrils of red and gold as it left. Leo couldn't remember the last time she'd looked at a sunset. It was pretty. In the Crown City, there were too many buildings and lights that obstructed the view. It was probably the same reason the stars were so noticeable when they were camping.

She looked to Ignis, who was still looking at the darkening sky. Upon the weight of her gaze, he finally turned to look at her. "The sunset was yet another excuse, Leo. I wanted to speak to you about something."

It was as if her heart stopped in her chest. What could be so serious that he brought her all the way out here. Was he mad at her about something? No, he didn't look mad. Then what—

Her mind blanked as Ignis took her hand in his. "I apologise. Is this too forward of me?"

Leo looked down at their hands. Her hand was small, darker than usual with the dusting of black powder and marred with scrapes and scars. His fingers were long and smooth. Wait, he wasn't wearing his gloves? That was rare. Her embarrassment grew as she realised he was waiting for an answer. "I—um—I don't mind. I'm just a little confused. Are you cold?"

"Am I—" his eyes widened, and he laughed, alleviating the tension. "No. I'm not cold."

"Oh." She looked away, sure of her blush. This wasn't good for her heart. "You said you wanted to tell me something?"

"Ah…" If Leo didn't know better, it looked like Ignis was blushing too. But it was probably a trick of the lingering sunset or something, right? "Leo. I have feelings for you." His tone was almost matter-of-fact, as if he were observing the weather. "I… have for some time now. I don't know if you feel the same, but I wanted to tell you and not keep it in any more." He squeezed her hand lightly. "Please don't feel obligated to reply if you don't—I mean I promise nothing will change if you don't feel the same way. I will understand."

Leo could only stare at him as she wrapped her head around his words. "Ah shit!" she exclaimed, making him raise a brow. "Someone told you!" she cried, panicked, half to herself, half to him. Gladio had promised. He'd promised that he wouldn't say a word, and here they were. Or maybe Prompto had figured it out and spilled the truth without thinking.

Whatever Ignis was prepared for, he didn't seem to be prepared for this. "I beg your pardon? Someone told me what?"

Leo covered her furiously red face with her free hand. "You're messing with me." she said miserably. "Someone told you that I like you and now you're messing with me." It was really mean, actually. And she would have time to be sad and angry later. At the moment, she was just humiliated. "Or maybe you feel sorry for me, I dunno. I just know I'll kill whoever told you. Ah, this is the worst—"

"Leo." she was stopped from her panicked ramblings by Ignis. She peeked through her hand and saw that was smiling down at her. "No one told me that you had feelings for me."

"Then you guessed." That was worse. That meant that she wasn't able to hide her feelings, and he was able to pick up on them.

"Actually, I had no idea." he chuckled, the sound sending a shock of warmth through her. "Until now, that is. It seems my feelings are reciprocated."

stopped working. That meant… it couldn't! "You like me?" her voice was a whisper. He nodded. "Oh…"

"It finally got through that thick head of yours." Ignis tilted his head, a brilliant smile on his lips. "Will you then allow me to court you, Leo?"

"I— you want to— but—but—"

"But what?"

"What would this mean? We're constantly travelling."

"I know it may be a little difficult. But I believe we can make it work. We're both professionals and a relationship wouldn't get in the way of our duties to the Prince." Leo hadn't realised it, but he was getting closer and she was inching back as a result, until her back hit the railing.

"I don't want to affect the group in any way." Leo admitted another worry, flushing at the thought of the teasing that would follow.

"If it makes you feel better," Ignis ducked his head to say in a low voice, "we can take our time in telling them. But, I'm sure they'll understand."

"Yeah you're right…" Even she could handle teasing to a certain extent. "I'm too short! Don't laugh!" she pouted at his response. It was a very viable concern. He had an entire foot on her five feet of height.

Ignis further intertwined their fingers together. "You're right. This is a very serious concern. How shall we remedy it? Well, I can always lean down. May I?"

He placed a hand underneath her chin, making it so there was no way for her to avoid looking into his green eyes. A question lingered in the air and Leo knew what he was asking. If she refused, she knew he'd back off, but she didn't _want_ him to back off. So, she nodded, and he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers with the gentlest of touches. When he drew back, her lips were on fire. "Well, that wasn't too difficult."

"N— no. I guess not." She pressed a finger to her lips. "Do you think you could do it again, just to make sure?"

Ignis chuckled, the sound low, before leaning down and kissing her again, deeper this time. She didn't know what to do with her free hand, so put it on his waist, pulling him ever so closer to her against that railing. He lingered longer against her lips before drawing back. Leo was dazed, but still managed to wonder how he could kiss her without his glasses getting in the way. Well, it was Ignis. How could she be surprised that he'd be good at this too. "Do you have any more concerns, Leona?"

She never realised how good her full name sounded coming from in. He made it sound almost pretty. She used her hand to cover her crimson face once again. "Ya got me." She mumbled through her hand. After all this, she didn't know if she could handle it if he changed his mind. It was bad enough when she had an unrequited crush on him. Hope was a terrifying force.

When she managed to look at him again, she wanted to hide away again once she saw how fond he looked. "I can't tell you how happy you've made me." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

 _Smooth bastard_. Still, she couldn't stop the grin that rose to her lips. How the fuck this happened, she'd never know. But she couldn't deny the exuberant joy she felt thinking about it.

Whatever this was now, Leo would be lying if she said she didn't look forward to it.


	13. Chapter 13: An Almost Perfect Date

Leo couldn't stop pacing. And the more she thought about how much she was pacing, the worse it got. There was barely any room to pace in the tiny hotel bathroom, so she had to turn a lot. Finally, she turned back to the mirror and inspected herself for the fifth time with a frown.

Her hair was way too messy. She'd combed it, but the curls still stuck out in all directions, as if mocking her. She was half tempted to steal some of the many products on the counter. It was amazing that she was the only one in the group who didn't use an obscene amount of product in her hair. But she had no idea how to style hair, so it was better to leave it.

Leo's attention fell to her clothes next. All she really had were her normal clothes, but she kind of wished she had something fancier. Maybe a dress? She shuddered at the thought. The only time she'd ever worn dresses were for those occasional parties in the Crown City. It'd be too embarrassing to wear normally. But this wasn't a normal occasion, was it? Well, there was little she could do. She'd have to hope a V-neck and black jeans would be okay. These ones weren't even distressed. After shrugging on her jacket, she slapped her cheeks. "I can do this. It's just a date."

A date with Ignis.

What was she thinking? Part of her wanted to squeal, the other part scream. She was in way over her head. The last time she dated, it had ended miserably. She could barely remember the dates she and that asshole had went on. What if she screwed this up too? No. It was different with Ignis. It was terrible of her to compare the two of them, even though it was the only comparison she had to go by.

It took a leap of faith, but Leo opened the door. There was nothing dramatic waiting for her. She was the only one in the hotel at the moment, with the others doing various errands around the city. She steadied her breathing before leaving the room.

Ignis was waiting for her outside of the hotel. She didn't get why they couldn't just leave together, but he had something to do in the morning apparently. She supposed it felt like he was picking her up. She wondered what surprise he had planned for her.

Her nervousness piqued as he caught a glimpse of her. She grinned shyly and waved, met him at the doors. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Not for too long." Ignis held out a hand for her which she took with some trepidation. But Ignis smiled at her reassuringly and her worry eased. "You look lovely."

"Ah, thanks. You—you too!" She sounded like an idiot, but it was true. That light blue button-up fit really well on Ignis, accentuating his broad shoulders. "Where are we going?" she asked both to sate her curiosity and to divert her mind from the realisation of them holding hands in public. Still, she liked the feeling of her hand in his and anyone that minded could go shove off.

She hadn't realised that Ignis was describing a restaurant. "—and it has an exquisite view of the city. I'm sure you'll like it."

"Yeah, it sounds great!"

They talked all the way to the restaurant, about the city and their journey. It was comfortable. Normal. Leo had been terrified that things would change if they started a relationship, but she could still listen to Ignis nerding out about their schedule.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw what must have been the restaurant. It was small, but elegantly decorated. Ignis led her to an outdoors table, with warm string lights. She couldn't help but blush when Ignis pulled out her chair for her. Why couldn't she keep her composure at the slightest of romantic gestures?

She distracted herself with the menu and noted that they were at a seafood place. He was right. This all sounded great. She opted for the braised swordfish, while Ignis chose something she couldn't pronounce. Their food arrived pretty quickly, and Leo dug in. "I gotta get Noct to catch one of these."

"May I try a bite?" Leo responded to his request by holding up a forkful to him. Ignis blinked in surprise but smirked and took the offered fish. Leo was overheating. She was sure of it. "I'll have to make this for you sometime."

"Y— yeah. I'd like that." Leo reddened further as Ignis held out his fork for her in return. She steeled herself and let him feed her. "It's good." She acknowledged, surprised by the citrus flavour of the shrimp.

Ignis beamed at her approval. She listened to his thoughts on the dishes and couldn't help but smile fondly as he deduced the ingredients that went into them. He really was brilliant, wasn't he? Why had she ever been worried? Sure, she wasn't pretty or feminine, but the way Ignis looked at her made Leo feel so... special that those things didn't even matter.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

Of fucking course.

Mortified, she turned to see Noct and Prompto walking up to their table. "Ooh, that looks good. What are you having Ignis?" Prompto said, slinging an arm around Leo's shoulder.

Noct took a swig from Leo's beer. "Meh. You have terrible taste, dude."

"I'm starving! We'll join you. Is that cool?" Prompto said.

Leo exchanged a look with Ignis, whose brow was twitching. She covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. "I don't think now's a good time." She finally said, looking at them.

They still looked clueless and confused as to why she'd say that. "Why not?" Noct asked.

"We're on a date." Ignis said coolly.

Noct only stared while Prompto's jaw dropped. Leo nodded, casting a quick glance to Ignis before back to the two of them. "A date? Like a _date_ date?"

She loved Prompto but at this moment, she wished he would take the hint "Yup a date. As in, we're dating." She looked to Ignis with that admission, who blinked in surprise. Oh wow, she just said it, didn't she? Sure, they'd kissed, and they were on a date right now, but did that actually mean they were dating? Ignis's pleased smile answered that question for her and she felt herself redden further.

It finally seemed to click in Noct's head. "When the shit did this happen?" he exclaimed.

Ignis turned away from gazing at Leo to the ignorant Noct. He took her hand in his on top of the table and shot the Prince a pointed look. "Right now. Before you so rudely interrupted."

Noct opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it, colour rising in his cheeks. "Sorry. We'll leave you to it." Was all a similarly embarrassed looking Prompto said before dragging Noct away by the arm. Prompto ran back though almost immediately. "Can I take a picture?"

"Prompto!" Leo scowled at him and he raised his hands in surrender before running back to the bewildered Noct.

And they were gone. She didn't know who started, but soon both of them had dissolved into laughter. "I guess I don't need to worry about breaking it to them anymore." Leo wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I suppose Gladio too will know by the time we get back." Ignis chuckled, taking a sip of his wine.

"That bastard will be real smug about it, I bet." Leo groaned. At Ignis's questioning look, she explained how Gladio had caught on to her feelings a while ago, before she had even fully realised it. She didn't mention how Gladio had caught her saying Ignis's name in her sleep, as she feared she would die from embarrassment.

Dinner proceeded without further interruptions. By the time they'd paid the bill and departed, dusk had fallen. Upon spotting an ice cream vendor, Leo suggested they get some with new eagerness. They walked hand in hand back to the hotel, eating their respective cones and Leo felt like she was floating. Ignis and strawberry ice-cream had that effect on her.

"Ah," Ignis stopped her once they reached the hotel entrance. "You have ice cream on your mouth."

"Oops." It seemed she got a little too eager.

She moved to wipe it but Ignis stopped her. "Allow me." He leaned down, and when she didn't move away, pressed his lips to the corner of hers. _Oh._ She smiled and kissed him back. His eyes were soft when they separated. "Thank you for allowing me to take you out today."

"I should be the one thanking you, dummy." Leo smiled bashfully. "It was really nice."

Ignis adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "We'll have to do this again, then."

"I— I'd love that."

They were so taken with each other that they totally forgot about what was waiting for them in the hotel room. Noct and Prompto immediately surrounded them as they entered, throwing questions out before Prompto noticed that they were still holding hands and began to freak out over that.

"Give them some space, guys." Gladio said, grinning as smugly as Leo expected him to.

Ignis kissed Leo's hand before releasing it, a smirk present on his face. Prompto squealed at the act and Leo flushed. At least someone was enjoying this. "Go on, my dear. I can sate their curiosity for now."

Noct choked and Leo was sure she would faint from him calling her _dear_ of all things. Still, she took the out and all but fled to the bathroom to shower first, grateful that Ignis had taken it upon himself to explain things. When she emerged in her pajamas, they seemed calmer, but she could tell that Noct and Prompto were still burning with curiosity.

She was in for a long night of explanations, wasn't she?


	14. Chapter 14: The Shirt Dilemma

I'm an adult, I tell myself, blushing furiously.

Please tell me what you think!

...

It was a rather silly thing to be bothered over, but Ignis found himself bothered nonetheless.

He kept slipping glances to where Leo was, rather passionately, arguing with Noct about the outcome of their game of King's Knight while Prompto was trying to mediate. It wasn't the argument that drew Ignis, but what Leo was wearing, an oversized hoodie with little chocobos patterning it.

He was being a fool. Leo had been stealing hoodies from Noct, Gladio, and Prompto since the beginning of their journey. It was commonplace at this point, and not even unique to her. Noct and Prompto stole each other's hoodies all the time too. What bothered him was that Leo never thought to steal any of his clothes.

It was something that only struck him recently, now that they were together. He found himself leaving shirts in visible places, waiting to see if she'd pick them up. But no. She ignored his shirts altogether, perplexing him greatly.

Ignis knew there was little point in jealousy. Leo was her own woman, and she could wear whatever she pleased. The last thing he wanted was to be controlling or possessive. Still, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy whenever he saw her in another's clothes. Especially since she was so small and easily engulfed by even Prompto's clothes.

One night, he decided to ask her about it. It wasn't that he was being jealous. No. Of course not. He was merely perplexed. Were his shirts not to her satisfaction? When he put forth the question one night in camp, she merely blinked in confusion. "Don't worry Ignis. I haven't been stealing your clothes. Promise."

Well, she missed the point completely. "I can see that. I was merely wondering why." He hesitated before continuing. "You seem so comfortable in the others' clothes."

"Hmm… well ya know I usually only steal hoodies." Leo indicated to the gigantic black hoodie she was wearing that could only be Gladio's, holding out the long flaps that her arms were too short to fill. "I haven't really thought about it before. It's a good thing you don't have hoodies for me to steal."

Ignis sighed. "I wouldn't mind." He was adjusting his glasses far too much. "That is I- if you wish to steal my shirts, I wouldn't… ah, nevermind." At her worried look, he pulled her close and kissed her softly before bidding her goodnight.

Leo let it go for that night, but couldn't stop being puzzled over it for the entirety of the next day's hunt. It was a random time to call her out on her theft of clothes. Did the others put him up to it? If so, she demanded Noct and Prompto be held accountable too as she wasn't the only hoodie thief.

So she took it up with Gladio, who listened to her theory before he laughed. And laughed. For a good solid minute, pissing Leo off more and more. "Oh, you're hopeless." he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye once he finished.

"Hmph, what the hell are you talking about?"

Gladio ruffled her hair affectionately. Before she could snap at him, his words stopped her. "Ignis is jealous."

"Jealous?" Leo asked in genuine bewilderment.

"I didn't think Iggy would be the type, but he is a man after all." At her growing perplexity, he sighed. "Guys usually like it when their girlfriends wear their clothes."

"When they…" Leo could only stare at him. She looked down and realised she was wearing Noct's old hoodie. "That's a thing? Really?" She remembered his words, _I wouldn't mind_ , and felt herself grow warm. "Are you sure?"

Gladio laughed again. "Wanna bet?"

Leo considered it but shook her head. "Nah, I— I'll take your word for it." He ruffled her hair once more, and she swatted his hand away. With that he left her to ponder this new development.

There was only one way to test this out.

Leo had her privacy in the tent, where she could worry in peace as she stared at the shirt she held in her hands. Of course it was perfectly soft. She wouldn't have expected any less from Ignis. She would have never thought that Ignis would notice what she wore around camp. No one else seemed to. There was no way she'd give up her (others') hoodies, but maybe she could oblige him.

The real reason she never thought to take his shirts, she realised as she shrugged the cream shirt on and began to button it up, was that his clothes were way too nice for her. She played around with too many explosives to justify risking the shirts he took such good care of. _But if he really doesn't mind… or even wants me to… then why not?_

When she was done with the buttons, she rolled up the too long sleeves and inspected herself critically in her phone's camera. She usually didn't wear too many light colours, but this looked nice against her dark skin. It dipped a little low, but she was wearing a sports bra underneath so she wasn't too worried. Guiltily, she pressed her nose to the collar and took in Ignis's scent. Musk from his cologne and something that was uniquely him.

Well, it was certainly comfortable. She could see herself wearing it more often. Now all she needed was the courage to join the others and pretend that she wasn't a flustered mess. It was just a shirt. There was no need to make a big deal out of it, right? So, she left the tent and joined the others at the campfire. Prompto gave her a curious look, but didn't comment and Noct didn't notice at all. She caught a thumbs up from Gladio, who she gave the finger to.

Ignis though… She could only summon the courage to peek at him twice, once when he was at the stove and hadn't noticed her yet, and the other when he was staring at her with a look that made her stomach flutter. After that shared glance, Leo nearly dropped the mug she was holding and laughed it off, throwing herself into their current game. Okay, maybe Gladio had kind of definitely been right.

Once Prompto and Noct left to sleep, Leo took the chance to begin polishing their weapons for the next day's hunt. It was supposed to be difficult, so she wanted to make sure they were perfectly prepared. Gladio lingered for a bit, continuing to read his book, before shutting it and bidding good night.

She had almost forgotten Ignis's presence. But as soon as Gladio was gone, Ignis took a seat beside her and all but pulled her into his lap. Leo squeaked but adjusted herself so she was more comfortable, and _oh Six_ she was all but straddling him. He kept a firm grip on her waist, keeping her there. "Hey." she said lamely, summoning the courage to peek up at him.

Her heart skipped a beat, seeing how _dark_ his green eyes were. He pressed his lips to the exposed skin on her shoulder. "It is cruel to tease me like this, dearest." he murmured against her skin.

Leo could barely hear him with her heart pounding in her ears. "I— um— I— thought— after you asked, that— that I should wear— I mean… Do you like it?" She cursed herself for her inability to use words properly.

She felt his body shake with suppressed laughter and she found herself giggling as well. She didn't know what to do with her hands, so she put them on his shoulders to steady herself. "Do I like it? Hmm..." She had the full pleasure of watching his eyes rove over her body, lingering on her collarbones. "Seeing you in my shirt is driving me rather mad, I'm afraid."

Leo could only look at him with wide eyes. She really had that much of an effect on him? Ignis's eyes softened at her reaction. "I don't mean to frighten you, Leo. Is this okay?" he indicated to their current closeness.

She nodded shyly. Seeing as he still didn't look convinced, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. They had been dating for over a month now, but she still struggled to initiate kisses. Ignis somehow pulled her closer, responding by kissing her so hard that she saw stars behind her closed eyes. She sighed against his lips and moved her hands to the back of his head to weave her fingers through his hair.

Ignis pulled away from a moment to look at her. Leo was sure she was red as a tomato. But he must have liked what he saw as he kissed her again, messily. She jumped in surprise when he pushed past her lips with his tongue, deepening the kiss. Leo met his tongue with her own hesitantly, weaving her fingers further in his hair. She moaned as he continued kissing her deeply and Ignis froze against her. When he pulled away, Leo looked at him in concern. "Did I do something wrong?" She pressed her fingers to her warm lips.

Before she could worry too much, Ignis shook his head. "No. Far from it." She liked the way he looked right now, flushed with lips red, glasses falling down his nose, and hair a mess from where she'd grabbed it. In truth, Ignis doubted his ability to control himself when she looked so red and wide eyed in _his_ shirt. Especially after that sound she had just made. He wanted nothing more than to draw it from her again, but he worried that it was far too soon. Leo still looked puzzled, so he kissed her once more, briefly, to reassure her.

Leo could only grin like an idiot at that. She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and felt content to stay like that for a while, despite the fact that she knew he probably felt how wildly her heart was beating. His was beating quickly as well, so she felt better about that.

If she got a reaction like this for wearing his shirt, she was definitely going to do it more often.


	15. Chapter 15: Starshell

Here it is! Thanks so much to you, Yurosoku, for constantly reviewing! :3:3:3

...

Leo knew some would consider what she was about to do cruel. But those people didn't know Noct.

It was hard enough in the mornings for Ignis and Gladio, who did the brunt of the work in cooking and packing up camp. She figured that if she was useless in those pursuits, she could at least wake Noct effectively.

Usually when the prince failed to budge, a splash of cold water did the trick. But Ignis had warned her and Prompto that it was possible to induce shock with such a technique. Prompto was immediately horrified at the idea and Leo had to come up with another solution.

The inspiration hit her one night when looking at the lamplights at the nearest gas station. Immediately, she pulled her notebook and began sketching out her plans. She couldn't help but cackle once the calculations were complete. It'd only take a night's work what with her being able to use one of her other bombs and merely modifying it a little. Instead of gunpowder, all she'd need would be a dissected battery.

The first prototype blew up in her face and left her coughing for ten minutes. It was a good thing everyone else had gone to sleep, and she was a distance away from camp otherwise the commotion would have given the project away. By the time dawn rose, she was satisfied with the final product. It was safe for use without a doubt now. Once the high of completing the bomb had passed, Leo realised she had stayed up the whole night in pursuit of it and exhaustion hit her all at once.

On her way to the tent, after putting away all her work, she passed Ignis in her zombie-like trance. "You're up early." she said blearily.

"You're up late." was his amused rebuttal.

"Ugh." Leo could only manage to give him a weak side hug before she went into the tent and passed out, fully clothed. She only got a few hours before Prompto nudged her awake. The only thing that got her out of her sleeping bag was the knowledge of her new invention.

Of course, it was only going to be possible if Noct proved to be stubborn this morning. After freshening up for the day, she came back to see with glee that Noct was still snoring away. "Hey Noct." Prompto was currently in the midst of trying to wake the prince.

"Hehehe. Allow me, Prompto." Leo supposed she looked like the very stereotype of the mad scientist with how giddy and sleep deprived she felt. Prompto stepped back warily as she drew her bomb. "Last chance, Noct." she warned loudly. When he didn't stir, she pinched the tiny bomb and tossed it in the air and stepped back to witness her work.

With a loud squeal like a boiling kettle, light filled the tent. Noct shot up in alarm only to witness the loud explosions of light over his head, which culminated in a spray of glitter. Leo and Prompto had dissolved into laughter which could barely be heard over the popping of the light bomb.

The tent flap opened and Gladio and Ignis came in with their weapons drawn. "What the hell is going on?" Gladio asked. Upon taking in the scene, he put away his weapon and joined in on the laughter.

Even Ignis seemed to have trouble resisting the urge. "Well that's one way to do it."

The bewildered confusion on Noct's face turned to fury as he rolled out of bed ungracefully. "LEO!"

"Eep!" Leo scrambled out of the tent as Noct attempted to chase her down, making for a comical scene as they made laps around the campfire.

"Get over here, asshole!"

When the others emerged from the tent, Leo shot behind Ignis. "Don't let him kill me!" she cried dramatically.

"I'll try my best, dear." Ignis chuckled.

"That's not fair!" The glitter encrusted prince protested as he stopped in front of them, seemingly drained of steam. "You're biased, Specs."

With that pause, Noct shot for her again, leading her to dart out from behind Ignis. With a few more rounds about the campfire, he finally caught her and began to shake some of the glitter pouring off of him, to which Leo shrieked in protest. As this happened, Prompto was examining the remains of the bomb. "Do you think you could make this into bullets, Leo?"

Leo stopped in her resistance. "What?"

"What?!" Noct added, forgetting that he was in the midst of vengeance. Was Prompto really going to betray him too?

"Not for you, dude!" Prompto waved his hands upon seeing the look of hurt on Noct's face. "I mean, I think it'd be good for dealing with daemons." Upon the stunned silence that followed, he blushed. "Sorry, it might be a stupid idea. I just thought-"

Leo stopped him by snatching the remains of the bomb from his hands with a glower. Wordlessly, she stalked to where her journal lay and began scribbling furiously. _Bullets_! It was a genius idea, one that she was pissed she hadn't thought of first. "If I modify the glitter, it could coat daemons with luminescent substance making them visible in the dark." she mused out loud.

"Good idea, Prompto." Gladio clapped him on the shoulder. He flushed further, relieved that it was admiration that was in the air, not mocking.

Noct wasn't pleased. "And we're just gonna ignore what you did to me?"

"It got you out of bed, didn't it?" Gladio grinned.

Ignis walked to where Leo was writing, and tangled a hand in the hair on the back of her head while Noct argued with Gladio. She looked up at the sensation. "Perhaps it is better suited to combat. I daresay his Highness will wake from now on at the warning."

Leo pouted. "I guess." It wasn't her finest moment. She'd make a point to apologize to Noct later on when he was less homicidal.

Her apology was accepted, but she still woke one morning to find all her socks encased in ice, which led her to chase Noct around screaming bloody murder. If it weren't for Prompto offering a pair of his, she'd have shivered all day. "We're even." Was all Noct had said smugly. Oh far from it. She had already begun planning her revenge.

They'd later learn that glitter was contagious and wasn't easy to get out of hair, clothes, or even the Regalia. Leo was banned on all accounts from ever using it again.


End file.
